There are two daughters called Alina and Balladyna. Alina is gentle and loving but Balladyna is an egoist, desiring wealth and power. Kirkor arrives at their mother’s hut. Their mother who was a widow invites Kirkor to the cottage. There is a goblin Skierka which casts a spell and  Kirkor falls in love with two daughters. At the same time Alina and Balladyna both fall in love with Kirkor. He has a problem with the choice of a loved one. Widow has an idea. The girl who brings  a jug full of raspberries from the forest will be Kirkor's wife. Alina is the first one to fill up the jar with raspberries and then Balladyna pulls out a knife. They argue and Balladyna kills her sister.

 

The book's action begins in Medinet, where Staś and Nel lived with their fathers, engineers working on the construction of the Suez Canal. Stas tells Nell about the troubles that happened to Fatma, Smain's wife. The fathers were also aware of the difficult situation in the city, so they decided to go to Medinet-el-Fayum.

Everyone went on a journey, albeit Mr. Rawlinson and Tarkowski in front of children. In the new place the children got to know the service and Nel got a dog Saba. The whole family spent the Christmas Eve evening in their new home, Nel received a large doll and sweets, while Stas received an English hunting rifle and a saddle for horse riding.

The next day, Mr. Tarkowski and Rowlinson went to inspect the Suez Canal, during which time Fatma's servants kidnapped Stas and Nell. The hijackers led them on camels in the Libyan Desert. They treated them cruelly. Stas and Nel were to be handed over to the prophet Mahdi. When Stas learned about General Gordon's death, he lost hope for help. During the journey, the children saw Gehr beating slave Kali and defending him.

In Khartoum, Stas and Nel appeared before the Mahdi. Mahdi sent children to Fashoda, where Sheikh Smain was staying. During the expedition, Nell weakened and paled, Dinah's nanny died. In Fashoda, they did not find Smain, who left to gain slaves. The children were to be sent to Fatma's husband, and a new maid, dark skin named Mea, was also assigned to them.

The next stage of the journey was to run through the forest, and instead of camels, they were given horses. During the crossing children met a lion on their way, Stas got his weapon from the hijackers. He shot an animal, Gehra, Chamisa and Bedouins. Children from Kali and Mea moved towards the border of Abyssinia. They came to a great baobab, they called it Krakow and for a time lived there. There they also became friends with King's elephant. Unfortunately, not all animals were so friendly tse-tse flies bitten their horses and Nel fell ill with fever. On the bank of the jungle Staś and Kali saw smoke, they decided to go there. They found Henry Linde there. Sam was sick with fever, which took most of his helpers, he was only thirteen-year-old Nasibu. Stas got a supply of food and quinine from him. The traveler buried and took care of Nasibu.

Stas hunted and thanks to this he gained food. They started their journey, but the heat was slowing them down. One day they stumbled upon the Negro village of savages, in which clever Kali introduced Stas as the Great Lord - the ruler of elephants killing lions with a thunderbolt (shotgun), and Nell as Good Mzimu (deity, god) to the Great Water. The village has fun in honor of children.

Along the way, they encountered villages in which, thanks to the stories of Kali, they were treated almost like gods: the Great Lord, the Lord of the Elephant and Thunder and Good Mzimu. In addition, children made kites, on which they wrote requests for help. In the end, the officers found kites and saved the children. Children were transported to their homes, Nel went to Poland with her father, while Stas was sent to school in Alexandria. Stas and Nel kept in touch all their lives, and when they were adults, they got married.